Caught in the Crosshair

by Han, Barb

  Too weak to move, all Lauren could do was watch as Jaden pulled a knife from its sheath. After cutting the line, he took one end, and using a bowline, attached the line to a clip on his buoyancy control device. He moved to Lauren and tucked the other end of the line through the buckle of her vest.

  “This way we won’t get separated.”

  A sinking feeling swelled inside Lauren’s stomach causing her muscles to heave at the sound of the word separated. The thought of the words at sea next to it was even worse. Especially when Max needed her most. If she’d had any idea he was in this much trouble, she wouldn’t have hesitated to help him.

  At least her wetsuit, although nothing more than a short sleeved shirt and shorts made of a thin layer of mesh, provided some measure of insulation against the elements. But without the sun, even seventy-degree water caused a chill to goose bump both of her arms.

  Jaden set his jaw. “We can swim at right angles to the wind to bring us closer to shore.”

  “How far is it?” Lauren wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that question. The chilly wind was already causing a reaction in her body. Her nerves were shot.

  “Hard to tell.”

  Maybe he didn’t want to say.

  “I need you to trust me. We’ll be okay.”

  Trust him? Trust a man with a gun who’d forced her out to sea? A man who made her body quiver with the mere brush of his hand?

  To be fair, he had kept them alive so far. He’d rescued her from the grip of a cartel member. He seemed determined to help her find Max. He’d lost a buddy today. She could risk a little trust.

  “Drop your weights,” he said.

  “What?” She was already scouting for a rescue boat. There had to be one. She listened for a plane or helicopter through the howling wind. Nothing. Just the distant roar of a boat engine.

  “Your weights. Let them go,” Jaden said, his voice was milder and more reassuring.

  Right again. They’d make it harder to swim against the current.

  Taking the lead, Jaden placed his facemask back on and folded forward.

  Lauren did her best to keep up, allowing some slack in the line, but careful not to create drag. After nearly twenty minutes of swimming, a waterspout bobbing up and down in the surf caught her attention. She tugged on the line to get Jaden’s attention. “There. Look there. A boat.”

  Jaden stopped swimming and turned. The wrinkle in his brow and tension lines across his face shot a warning to Lauren.

  Were they good guys or bad guys in the boat?

  Icy fingers of panic squeezed around her chest like an invisible band.

  Another light drizzle had begun, and it became immediately clear the boat was pushing toward shore.

  After a few minutes, the sky seemed to dump truckloads of rain, causing her to completely lose sight of the vessel. A fresh wave of anxiety hit.

  What ifs assaulted her.

  What if Jaden would have been able to overtake the men in the boat?

  What if he could take command and drive them back to shore safely?

  What if they just lost their only chance of rescue?

  Out here, they had nothing but angry seas.

  “Can you still see it?” Lauren tried to stop her voice from shaking. Ripples of chilling current ran from her skin to her core. She’d been so focused on doing whatever it took to find shore and save her brother that she’d totally forgotten where she was.

  This was the deep, home of the great white, the hammerhead, and who knew what other species of shark. She was in their territory now. Small and fearful, she was an easy target. “We’re going to die out here. They’ll kill Max for sure.”

  “You’re going to be fine,” Jaden said moving closer through the water until she could see every line of his face and his strong hand could reach out to her. “Let’s take a minute to rest.”

  Lauren choked back tears. She felt his hand squeeze hers reassuringly. Her lips quivered, but not from cold. It was him. A stranger caused that reaction in her. But this was not the time to get inside her head about what that meant.

  A hollow feeling of despair wrenched in her stomach. She took a deep breath, allowing the sound of her own breathing to offer a small reassurance.

  He looked right through her. Could he read her every thought? “We’re gonna make it. We’ll be okay.”

  She wanted to believe him, needing it to be true about not only this situation, but everything else in her life.

  Chapter Three

  “I should’ve taken his calls,” Lauren said stiffly, determined not to fall apart from the guilt assaulting her.

  Jaden’s hand came up and brushed against her cheek reassuringly, his touch made claps of thunder ring in her ears. He was showing extraordinary patience and kindness. “Did he say anything? Leave a message or anything for you to go on?”

  “He said he needed to talk to me, to apologize. I thought it was a trick.”

  “Did he mention where he was staying or anything about the people he was involved with?”

  “No. I didn’t return any of his calls. Thought he needed money again. I’d helped him out before. A few times when we were young. Then a few years ago he stopped by my store with some interesting-looking men. I was robbed two days later. I thought he didn’t care what happened to me. I got so angry I stopped taking his calls. That’s why I thought he was making a play to borrow money or hide.” She coughed back a sob.

  Jaden’s expression softened. “None of this is your fault. You know that, right?”

  It felt exactly like her fault. If she’d taken his calls, she could’ve helped him before he got in this much trouble. How could she have let her brother down when he needed her most?

  “How’re we doing?” Her dry throat cracked from all the shouting.

  “Great.”

  She checked for signs of another vessel out on the horizon. A white streak bobbing in the surf, a searchlight, anything.

  Jaden rocked his head back and forth. “Looks good. Doesn’t appear like we’re going to drift out into open sea.”

  The direness of the situation descended on her like a hundred-and-forty-pound weight. She coughed.

  “Do you need more time to rest?” Concern lines scored his forehead.

  No. She’d held them up long enough. “We should keep going.”

  He tucked away his compass and guided them back to their swim rhythm.

  As Lauren’s arms sliced through the surf, she allowed herself a moment to imagine what it would be like to be wrapped in his arms. The thought startled her.

  Of course her mind was playing tricks on her. She was tired. Lost. Lauren shook off the fog and focused.

  ***

  Random thoughts came into Jaden’s head as he swam. Not of dying though, despite the circumstances, he’d not once really doubted they would survive. They were calm, healthy and fit, and the water wasn’t too cold. The real struggle was to keep morale up. Keep Lauren moving forward. Once they got to safety, they’d retrieve her brother, and he’d send them both home. Case closed.

  A question niggled at his conscious. Why’d they shoot Bryce?

  When she’d told him her brother had saved her from bad people, and by people he instantly knew she meant men. Sheer rage flared inside him at the thought that someone might hurt her.

  He wanted her to know he would never hurt her.

  It was a promise he knew he couldn’t keep. Similar to the beers he and Bryce had committed to having back there on the beach.

  Jaden’s line of work didn’t allow for keeping promises. Ask Smith’s wife. Or Helena.

  Guilt knifed his chest.

  This was an assignment. It was his job to watch over her and find out if she was involved with her brother. She was an asset. He shouldn’t let her get to him.

  Checking his watch, he realized they’d been swimming well over an hour.

  Her spirits were sagging, and keeping them up until they reached safety would be the bigger challenge. Not to mention
the fact that the longer they stayed in the ocean, the closer that hurricane would get. They needed to get out before conditions worsened. Jaden could see Lauren was trying to put up a brave front. It stirred a place deep inside him.

  Not that it mattered now, she was getting weak.

  As Jaden pulled a torch and scanned the surface, he located ridges jutting out of the water. “Over there. Rocks.” He pointed. A break would give Lauren time to regroup. They couldn’t stay long. He couldn’t afford to prolong their trip to shore. Riding out a hurricane with no shelter would be too dangerous.

  Dark gray sluiced through the water. Fin. That meant one thing. Shark. His heart bound into his throat. He clamped down his mouth to contain his anger. His legs went numb.

  He drew Lauren’s attention to him as he sucked in a burst of air. He couldn’t be sure how she’d react, and the last thing they needed was to excite the shark by panicking.

  The notion there might be more than one shark caused his thoughts to stumble.

  The winds shifted. Dark, heavy clouds littered the sky as the intensity of the approaching storm waned and swelled. With a shark cutting through the water nearby, Jaden’s gut stayed clenched. The fin disappeared, and Jaden sucked in a breath.

  Then came the bump.

  Exploration. No harm, no foul. Jaden also knew sharks didn’t particularly care for the taste of humans. Most sharks anyway, unless you count tigers and bulls. And he’d run into a few bulls while on assignment.

  He was going to have to say something.

  “Lauren —”

  “Something just brushed up against my leg. Something big.” Her wide eyes conveyed fear, though her voice remained surprisingly steady. She otherwise looked calm. Amazing. He’d figured her for a screamer.

  “Don’t look —”

  “Whatever that was, it was huge.” Her arms were steady, unfailing, but her brown eyes popped with panic.

  Incredible. She was stronger than he’d originally guessed. A strong urge to protect Lauren pulsed through him. He shoved the emotion aside as he muttered a curse and reached out to pull her close, his arm weaving instinctively around her taut waist.

  “Be calm. Take a deep breath.”

  “There it is. It happened again …” Her head whipped left and right.

  He had to get them out of there if they were to stay alive. And fast. He surveyed the water. A four-foot swell broke in front of him. Salt burned his eyes. He blinked.

  “Wait for the next swell, then swim. Don’t stop until you reach land.”

  Bump.

  Another bump. Too close. Either one shark kept coming back, or there were many. Couldn’t say either thought was appealing. He pulled his mask on and dunked his head under water to investigate. A group of nurse sharks caught his attention first, good news, wouldn’t attack unless provoked.

  But what was doing all the bumping? Surly not the nurse sharks. The only other bit of good news was the menace wouldn’t be a great white either. They were stealth, sneak attackers that would’ve hit by now. Hard. Fast. Without warning. Then, they’d retreat while they patiently waited for their prey to die. A luxury for predators with no competition.

  A gray shadow moved in the deep. It definitely wasn’t a nurse shark. Jaden strained to get a better look. A blunt snout followed by a large, thick body came into focus. The first dorsal fin was larger than the second. Then, he glimpsed the pointed caudal fin. Tiger shark. Deadly. Man-eating.

  He focused on the stripes. Dark was the best of a bad situation. Meant juvenile. He forced himself to look again, guessed the shark was about ten feet long, but size was tough to gauge since water had a way of distorting objects.

  He figured it was about half the size of an adult male.

  Jaden popped his head up. Purple shaded Lauren’s lips; all other color had drained from her face. She was shivering by now, looking pale, exhausted. And determined.

  “We need to go. Now.”

  Lauren nodded, turned, and began kicking without another question.

  Untying the anchor line binding him to Lauren, he held his position while checking for the tiger shark. Next, he touched his mask to his eyes and breathed in lightly through his nose to increase the seal, bent forward, and eyed the reef. There. The lump of gray cut left and then right, looking like the beast might fold in half, its turns were so tight. The tightness and frequency of this one’s turns signaled the shark was working into frenzy.

  Jaden allowed the shark to come uncomfortably close underneath him. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he rammed his fist into its gill slits.

  He swung an aching arm forward and tried not to think about the rows and rows of saw-edged, razor-sharp, teeth in the mouth of the shark circling below.

  Remembering the tiger’s keen eyesight, and ever conscious not to act as wounded bait, Jaden brought up the rear all the while keeping one eye on the shark and the other on Lauren. He knew the tiger would go for her first. She was smaller. Weaker. Easier victim. Damn opportunistic feeders.

  Can’t come to that, he told himself. Not as long as he had air in his lungs and his head above the surf.

  Lauren glanced back. “We’re almost there.” Hope brightened her dark eyes, brought out the gold tone.

  Up close, the island looked more like headstones flagging a watery grave. A flat section of rock with a small grade made the optimal entry point.

  Now, if they could just get onto the brown hunk without being slammed into the surrounding rocks they might have a chance.

  With clouds layering the air as thick as a senior citizen’s December outfit, blocking much-needed warmth from the sun, he and Lauren had to make shelter before they froze. Or worse.

  Jaden sighed sharply.

  The shark cut toward Lauren. She was at least twenty-five feet out in front. Not taking time to think, knowing he couldn’t swim to her in time, he slapped down on the water.

  The shark didn’t veer.

  Jaden repeated the slapping, quicker this time.

  The shark wasn’t responding, and it was getting closer to Lauren.

  Jaden shouted, slapping the water again, ignoring the threat from any other shark lurking around unseen looking for an easy meal. “Lauren, go. Faster. Go.”

  Lauren didn’t break rhythm.

  As she stood tall in waist-deep waters, she bent over and began fidgeting with her flippers. She must’ve found a rock, or the base of the incline. Good, but she needed to move because the shark could reach her there.

  Jaden had to get her attention, had to get her out of the water.

  A strong wave caught her off guard and knocked her off her feet. She scrambled to get back up and was nearly sucked back into the swell.

  “Go. Go. Go.” Jaden batted his arm forward.

  As she glanced up her eyes widened.

  Jaden’s gut tightened. He’d lost sight of the shark. Had it turned? Was it right next to him? Not able to force himself to look, he prepared for the bite. With no help in sight, even a small bite would be deadly. A brush of the tiger’s teeth against his skin, especially near an artery, would cause him to bleed out in half an hour.

  But then, there were worse things to be afraid of than death. Living for one. Living with the guilt of helplessly watching as his big brother died because, young and naïve, he’d thought a gang would offer the protection their father hadn’t.

  The thought startled him.

  Lauren’s voice broke through as she pointed directly at him. Panic etched lines in her face, the whites of her eyes the only things glowing in the ever-darkening sky.

  “A wave.” she shouted.

  Jaden forced himself to face forward as water tugged at him from behind, meaning one thing — a huge swell pulled him backward. He sucked in a breath of life-giving air, held onto it. The next thing he knew, he was being churned around and spiraled downward.

  He popped back up. Had to get his bearings.

  A new wave pulled him backward, then twisted him around and slammed him down a
gain.

  Keep fighting.

  Jaden scrambled on top of the surf, looked up in time to see he was being pulled away from Lauren. The rain was coming down hard, and he struggled to focus his eyes. If anything happened to him, Lauren would be alone. Defenseless. On a freaking rock. Anger balled up and lodged in his chest. He checked the shark. It was coming. Jaden felt himself being tugged backward while the thing was closing in.

  Think you’re gonna eat me?

  Not this time, sucker. Adrenaline coursed through his veins.

  Facing off with the shark, Jaden cut right and slammed his balled fist into its gills again.

  Hungry? Not this time, you son-of-a-bitch.

  He caught sight of Lauren coming toward him in the water. “Stay back. Shark.”

  She shrugged.

  Didn’t she understand?

  Shouting to the point of losing his voice, he chugged water as he rolled into the wave. He scrambled to the surface. Still coming. She was going to kill herself getting to him.

  Throwing himself forward, he kicked through the burn of his muscles.

  Why hadn’t she listened? He kicked through leg pain. He knew why. She was trying to be a hero, to save him. He had to admire her courage, her stubbornness, if not her reasoning. Heck, he’d have done the same thing were the situation reversed.

  She stopped. Must’ve realized the swells were reaching heights she couldn’t handle. Now, let’s hope she stayed put long enough for him to make shore.

  He drew on all the rage, pain, and anguish inside him to push his legs further, harder, until his tight hamstrings threatened to snap.

  Exhaustion rained heavily over him like wet concrete threatening to drag him to the ocean floor.

  Pain numbed his legs to the point he couldn’t feel them. It didn’t matter.

  The woman moving toward him stirred something else inside him that made him want to live.

  Rain pounded on the water, causing salt to splash up and burn his eyes. He was getting close as he strained to get a good look. There she stood. Lauren. Dripping with water in the haze of rain between them, he could see the silhouette of her.

  Her gasp echoed through driving rain. Jaden glanced up as a huge swell sucked him back. The long struggle had bled the fight from his muscles.